I had the same thing when I was 25. I ended up quitting my job and buying a one-way ticket to Europe. I didn't think I would ever write code again. I spent about three months backpacking Europe, then came back and spent a few more hanging around and doing odd jobs around town. Eventually, I started code in my free time again, and about a year later, came back into the profession refreshed.
Now I know what I need to do to prevent burnout again, and it's primarily that I keep other hobbies, and I have friends that aren't work-related. It lets me get away when I need to and still stay interested in what I do the rest of the time.
But that's more maintenance, sometimes you need to shotgun into that stage by cutting out everything for a lengthened period of time. If you really are a hacker at heart, and it sounds like you are, you'll start writing code again soon enough, and you'll know you're back.
You'll also have stories and other life experiences as well, which make you a better, more rounded person.
This is the best advice here. I got incredibly fed up with my programming career after about 5 years or so. I went off and traveled around the world for a year, met my wife, opened a coffee shop, spent a winter at a ski resort and freelanced in Tanzania (on Zanzibar).
After all that I found I missed programming, and realized what things I didn't like about my career choice, such as long meetings, boring projects and so on. This helped me direct my programming career back to what I enjoyed and has made me much happier and more productive.
So, get out there and do something different! You've got your education and experience now and there will always be a job somewhere for you.
Exactly, now that I know exactly what keeps me satisfied, I can make sure that my environment is just that. It's better for myself, since I'm happier, which means I'm willing to work harder and am more productive, which makes it better for the company as well.
I also know exactly the things I feel before I get burnt out, so when I feel that happening, I can take a short 2-3 week vacation and don't need to do something drastic again like taking a year off.
Overall, it just teaches you about yourself and how to be more efficient at whatever it is you want and need to do.
>> I went off and traveled around the world for a year, met my wife, opened a coffee shop, spent a winter at a ski resort and freelanced in Tanzania (on Zanzibar).
Sorry for asking the obvious. But from where did you get the money to do all that?
How did you play it on your resume? I know in some circles, having a lapse in employment in your resume is about like having a lapse in insurance coverage; e.g. it's a red flag and can really hurt your chances of getting the job (economy notwithstanding).
I put it exactly as it happened. The travelling has never caused me any problems, in fact it usually is the cause of some interesting discussions with potential employers.
As for running my own business, I can point to all the skills gained during that experience as benefits to the company as well. Leadership, discipline, time management, working under pressure and so on.
The sort of companies that wouldn't like my past experience are exactly the sort I would never want to work for, so it works as a nice filter for me too! :)
I did the same thing, but it was a ticket to Australia and a work visa.
One benefit of taking this kind of time off is that it lets you know what you truly love. After a few months of kicking around, reading books in parks, seeing sites and meeting some cool folks, I found myself reading web tech articles. That was an eye opener to me--"hey, I really like this career path!"
Same question I asked below, but: how did you play it on your resume? Did you just put "hiking in Europe", etc.? I'd love to do something like this, but I'm fearful what kind of damage it'd have on my resume.
So, when I got back, and decided to go back to work, I was definitely concerned about it.
In my case, one of the side jobs was a small business being run on eBay, so I had that listed. I also said in interviews that I wanted to take a year off to see the world. Once I got the first job after the break, it was never a concern anymore.
Since then, between jobs I've taken a couple months off, and I've never found it to be a problem. Especially when you say, I was burnt out and I needed to refresh myself before I came back to work. Otherwise, I just wouldn't be as productive. Potential managers definitely appreciate that you can take care of yourself.
(Or rather, the kinds of companies you want to work for appreciate that you can take care of yourself to recognize and prevent burnout.)
I had the same thing when I was 25. I ended up quitting my job and buying a one-way ticket to Europe. I didn't think I would ever write code again. I spent about three months backpacking Europe, then came back and spent a few more hanging around and doing odd jobs around town. Eventually, I started code in my free time again, and about a year later, came back into the profession refreshed.
Now I know what I need to do to prevent burnout again, and it's primarily that I keep other hobbies, and I have friends that aren't work-related. It lets me get away when I need to and still stay interested in what I do the rest of the time.
But that's more maintenance, sometimes you need to shotgun into that stage by cutting out everything for a lengthened period of time. If you really are a hacker at heart, and it sounds like you are, you'll start writing code again soon enough, and you'll know you're back.
You'll also have stories and other life experiences as well, which make you a better, more rounded person.